Ankle warmer



March 8, 1966 H. A. FOWLER ETAL 3,238,537

ANKLE WARMER Filed June 12, 1963 INVENTORS HILDA ABREVAYA FOWLER LEE R. FOWLER BYMwW ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,238,537 ANKLE WARMER Hilda Abrevaya Fowler and Lee R. Fowler, both of 42-42 Colden St., Flushing, N.Y. Filed June 12, 1963, Ser. No. 287,238 1 Claim. (Cl. 2242) This invention relates to the art of protective clothing, more particularly to an article of clothing designed to be worn around the ankle of the wearer to provide desired warmth for the lower extremities, and at the same time attain desired decorative effects.

Contemporary ladies footwear is relatively flimsy, and though providing a modicum of protection for the foot of the wearer serves a largely decorative effect. During periods of extremely cold weather, conventional footwear provides little protection, and the average woman finds it highly undesirable to wear boots, or the like footwear, which serve to warm and protect the foot, since conventionally available protective footwear, such as boots, is regarded as unesthetic, and unstylish.

It is with the above problems and desiderata in mind, that the present item of clothing has been evolved, an article of clothing readily compatible for use with conventionally acceptable footwear, serving to enhance the decorative quality of this footwear, and at the same time serving to warm the foot of the wearer.

It is accordingly among the primary objects of this invention to provide stylishly acceptable means for maintaining the foot of the wearer warm.

Another object of the invention is to provide foot warming means which will be maintained in desired position with respect to the foot of the wearer during normal periods of use.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an item of foot apparel which will be stylishly acceptable.

A further object of the invention is to provide a foot warming article of clothing subject to fabrication of any of a wide variety of materials.

These and other objects of the invention which will become hereafter more apparent are achieved by means of a novel ankle warmer. It has been empirically determined that heat sensitivity in the area of the ankles is greater than in most other parts of the foot. Accordingly if the ankle is kept warm, it is found that the foot is warm. The novel ankle warmer here provided employs this fact to obtain desired warming effects, and at the same time providing desired stylish appearance. The instant novel ankle warmer comprises an elongate flexible strip of material which is convexly contoured throughout its length. The convex contouring serves to insure engagement of the ankle warmer with respect to the ankle of the wearer to prevent undesired slippage of the strip of material with respect to the foot of the wearer.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that the ankle warmer is readily compatible with contemporary style values such that its use serves to enhance the decorative qualities of conventional footwear.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of adjustable means with respect to the ankle warmer permitting its use by different wearers without requiring differently sized articles of clothing.

The specific details of a preferred embodiment of the invention, and their mode of functioning, will be made most manifest and particularly pointed out in clear, concise and exact terms in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the novel ankle warmer in position on the legs of a wearer;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention shown open and provided with an adjustable 3,238,537 Patented Mar. 8, 1966 fastening member between the free ends of the ankle warmer;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the ankle warmer of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the novel ankle warmer employing an elasticized construction.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, like numerals in the various figures will be employed to designate like parts.

As shown in FIGS. l-3, the ankle warmer 10 comprises an elongate strip of material, convexly contoured in a direction transverse to its axis so that a major diameter 11 is formed at the transverse center of the structure, while minor diameters are formed at the upper and lower edges 12 and 13 respectively. At one of the free ends 14, the surface material 15 is bent back on itself to extend around a relatively rigid support 16. Support 16 is preferably formed of a resilient plastic sheet material convexly contoured to fit about the ankle of the wearer. Fastening members 17 and 18, adapted to engage with anchoring member 19 are formed on the inturned surface material extending over the rigid insert 16. Anchoring member 19 is secured to the opposite free end of the elongate strip material forming the ankle member 10.

It is preferred that the surface material be made of a suitable decorative material preferably of an air-trapping type such as fur or the like in order to provide desired warmth. In the preferred construction, an interior lining member 25 formed of a cushioning or lining material of desired smoothness such as silk polyurethene or the like is secured to the warmer by conventional sewing techniques, or utilizing adhesives.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 4, the novel ankle warmer 30 is formed of a continuous band of material convexly contoured as previously described. Desired contouring is effected by utilizing a row of stitches formed of elastic thread 32 and 33 respectively. Elastic thread stitches 32 and 33 are spaced adjacent the edges of the material as illustrated in FIG. 3 so as to pull the upper and lower edges of the material (transversely with respect to the axis of the ankle warmer) to provide the desired contour overlying the ankles of the wearer.

Operation In use the novel ankle warmer as illustrated in FIG. 1 is positioned over the ankles of the wearer.

Where the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l-3 is employed, the ankle warmer 10 is adjusted to the leg of the wearer by securing the set of fastening members 17 or 18 with respect to the securing member 19 so as to provide desired snugness of fit. It will be observed that the stiffening insert 16 serves to maintain the free end containing the fastening members 17, 18 and 19 in an overlapping juxtaposition with respect to the other free end of the ankle warmer to provide desired smoothness of contour. As previously described, it is found that where the ankle of the wearer is kept warm, the rest of the foot feels warm since apparently maximum sensitivity to temperature occurs at the ankle probably due to the fact that the nerve endings adjacent this ankle bone are most closely positioned with respect to the surface of the foot.

By virtue of the contour of the convex contouring of the elongate strips forming the ankle member, the ankle member lies over the ankles of the wearer and is prevented from slipping with respect to the foot.

The relatively small strip of material provides a decorative touch to the foot of the wearer fully compatible with desired style trends, and may be made of any material regarded as stylishly compatible with the other clothing of the wearer.

In-use of the elasticized form shown in FIG. 4, desired contouring is provided by means of the elastic sewing threads 32 and 33, and positioning is performed as previously described with the same results.

It is thus seen that a simple ankle warming item of clothing is provided readily compatible with desired style eifects of ladies footwear.

The above disclosure has been given by way of illustration and elucidation, and not by way of limitation, and it is desired to protect all embodiments of the herein disclosed inventive concept within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

An ankle warmer comprising an elongate flexible strip of material convexly contoured throughout its length and having an inturned end, the convex contouring approximating the contour of the human ankle; a lining extending along the interior surface of said strip of material and secured thereto; a rigid insert sandwiched between said inturned end and said strip; said insert being convexly contoured and arranged at one end of said strip; a plurality of spaced fastening members'secured to the inturned end of said strip over said insert; and extending above the plane of said lining; and an anchoring member on the other end on the outer surface of said elongate strip of material, said anchoring member having cooperating portions for engagement with any one of said fastening members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner, 

